Chhattisgarh High Court seeks affidavit from the state government on the quality of mid-day meal in Bilaspur schools.

Bilaspur: There has been a significant decline in student participation due to the poor quality of mid-day meals served to school children from the central kitchen in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.

Due to poor quality of food, children have stopped eating and school staff and cooks are feeding animals instead of food. As a result, there are more stray cattle than children in schools at lunch time.

The case has now drawn the attention of the High Court, which has initiated hearing on the basis of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) following media reports. The court has sought answers from the state government and the collector, and has also sought an affidavit from the District Education Officer (DEO). The next hearing is to be held on November 27.

A central kitchen was set up to prepare the mid-day meal, which is contracted by the Municipal Corporation. The kitchen supplies food to more than 120 government and private schools in the area.

However, the quality of food has declined in recent times, especially since education department officials have stopped paying adequate attention to the issue. As a result, children have refused to eat the poor quality food and cooks are now feeding it to animals instead.

Earlier, the food used to be of better quality, but with the decline in food standards, stray dogs and cattle have started crowding schools at lunch time.

The High Court has expressed concern over the situation and sought clarification from the concerned authorities on the chaos caused by poor quality food.